


Negligence

by Red_Tigress



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Child Negligence, Ficlet, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Kid Tony, SPOILERS for Agent Carter 1.07
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 17:21:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3389921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Tigress/pseuds/Red_Tigress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy Carter has some choice words for Howard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Negligence

**Author's Note:**

> Can we all just agree everyone thought something like this would happen when they saw Howard's stupid exploding/angry people killing experiments? Honestly, this isn't as bad as it could have been. If you like it, please leave some love, and as always, I'm on tumblr at redtigress.

Peggy moved through the hospital halls like a whirlwind, not sparing the nurses so much as a passing glance. She knew the wing she was headed for. The one reserved for celebrities and heads of state. The one full of...discreetness. No one even paused to turn her away, so furious was the look on her face.

 

The agents back at the S.S.R. were probably still reeling from the phonecall she got during her debriefing meeting, and her swift departure. In her haste, she hadn’t even grabbed her jacket.

 

She rounded a corner, and saw a man hunched in a chair. She didn’t slow her pace and the clack of her heels echoed angrily in the otherwise empty hallway.

 

The man turned his head when he heard her, and stood abruptly as he recognized her.

 

“Peggy, thanks for com-”

 

She threw a swift right hook to his lower jaw that made him stumble, clutching his face in pain. She gritted her teeth as she shook out her hand.

 

“What was that for?” Howard Stark moaned.

 

“You know damn well what it was for, you...blithering fool!” She made a disgusted noise, turning towards the wall before turning back to him. “Where’s Maria?”

 

“Out of town,” Howard said, straightening and massaging his jaw.

 

“Well, where’s Jarvis?” She demanded.

 

“He’s with her!”

 

Peggy pinched the bridge of her nose. “So it’s just you,” she said in exasperation.

 

“I...yeah,” Howard slumped back down in his chair, defeated. “I don’t know, Peggy, I’m just not used to watching him, and you know how he gets underfoot-”

 

“He is six, Howard, of course he gets underfoot! I should...file for negligence!” She threw her hands up in the air, disgust oozing from every motion.

 

Howard grimaced. “The doctors here are discreet, it’s not a problem.”

 

She whirled on him furiously because how could someone so smart be so incredibly stupid? “Do you think I’m worried about doctors? I’m worried you are going to kill your son because of your gross negligence, which I have seen hurt other people before, Howard!” Tears of anger and frustration were welling up in her eyes. “Do you know other people child-proof their homes so their children don’t stick their fingers in a wall socket? How could you just leave a bomb lying around the house?”

 

Howard flinched at that. “It wasn’t a bomb! I didn’t think-”

 

“No of course you didn’t,” Peggy breathed. “You never think about other people and now your son is paying for it.” She leaned down, grabbing the armrests of Howard’s chair, which made him lean away from her. “God knows how you’ve destroyed other people’s lives with your technology, but I will not stand by and watch you ruin Tony’s. Everything even remotely dangerous has to be gone by tomorrow, or I will bring the full power of not only child services, but the S.S.R. down on your head for treason, don’t for one second think I won’t.”

 

Howard swallowed, then nodded silently.

 

She stood up,  and put her hand lightly on the door next to his chair. “I wish you wouldn’t continue to disappoint me,” she said quietly.

 

She pushed the door inwards before she could gauge his reaction. Inside, there was a tiny figure in a hospital bed that seemed too large for him. An I.V. ran from his skinny arm to a bag of saline drip. There were small red scratches on his pale face and Peggy thanked heaven that the bomb wasn’t really intended to be a bomb or Anthony Stark would probably be dead instead of in a hospital.

 

She sat down lightly on the bed, gently brushing his mop of black hair out of his eyes. They opened slowly, and a small smile spread over his face. “Aunt Peggy?”

 

She smiled and kept brushing his hair. “Hello, darling. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. You’ve grown so much!”

 

“I got an inch taller,” he said proudly.

 

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

 

Tony yawned. “Tired. Can I go home soon?”

 

“I’m sorry, Darling, but you have to stay for a little while longer. Just until you feel better. And then your father will take you home.” She uttered the last sentence with a little more venom than she had meant, but Tony didn’t seem to notice.

 

“It hurt at first, but then I hit my head and it doesn’t hurt anymore. Well…” he yawned again. “I do have a headache. Can I have Cap?” He pointed to the bedside table where there was a Captain America doll. She smiled as she remembered the toy store across the street from the hospital. At least Howard had done something right.

 

She smiled as she handed it to him.

 

“Did you ever get blown up? Did Cap?” He asked.

 

She grinned. “Too many times to count.” She didn’t mention that she had also survived an explosion caused by Howard Stark which was one thing they unfortunately now had in common. “But see, you’re as strong as us, because you’ll be feeling better soon, right?”

 

“Right,” he said, hugging his doll closer to his small chest. “Aunt Peggy, will you…” he yawned again, closing his eyes. “Please tell me a story?”

 

“Of course, darling. Have I told you about the time a Russian spy broke into my apartment building?”

 

 


End file.
